Archeologists estimate that, in
ordinary circumstances, the
activity of gathering in
temperate and tropic areas
provides 75 to 80% of the total
calories consumed, with
hunting providing the balance.
In existing hunting and
gathering cultures, women
usually do most of the
gathering, while the men
specialize in hunting.
Domestication can be defined as a primitive form of
genetic engineering in which certain plants and
animals are brought under human control, their
objectionable characteristics eliminated, their
favorable ones enhanced and in the case of
animals, can be induced to reproduce in captivity. -Nagle, p. 3.
In the Near East, many
varieties of the wild
cereal grasses, wheat
and barley, shown
below were exploited as
major food sources.
In contrast to hunting and gathering as a mode of
life, agriculture means modifying the environment
in order to exploit it more effectively. Agriculture
alters both the animals and plants it domesticates.
Ultimately, it changes the very landscape itself.
Domestication of Animals
Uruk: a substantial ceremonial hub by 3500
B.C.
Uruk
The State and Urban Revolution:
In the city-state (or state), kin and tribal
loyalties are, by definition, subordinated and
replaced by political ties…. What makes a citystate different from an agricultural town is the
synergy created by its people interacting with
each other on the basis of political
relationships rather than traditional blood ties.
The Beginnings of Writing
Farmers needed to keep records.
The Sumerians were very good farmers. They raised animals such as goats and cows (called
livestock). Because they needed to keep records of their livestock, food, and other things, officials
began using tokens.
Tokens were used for trade.
Clay tokens came in different shapes and sizes. These represented different objects. For example, a
cone shape could have represented a bag of wheat. These tokens were placed inside clay balls that
were sealed. If you were sending five goats to someone, then you would put five tokens in the clay
ball. When the goat arrived, the person would open the clay ball and count the tokens to make sure
the correct number of goats had arrived. The number of tokens began to be pressed on the outside
of the clay balls. Many experts believe that this is how writing on clay tablets began.
A system of writing develops.
The earliest form of writing dates back to 3300 B.C. People back then would draw "word-pictures"
on clay tablets using a pointed instrument called a stylus. These "word-pictures" then developed
into wedge-shaped signs. This type of script was called cuneiform (from the Latin word cuneus
which means wedge).
Who used cuneiform?
Not everyone learned to read and write. The ones that were picked by the gods were called scribes.
Boys that were chosen to become scribes (professional writers) began to study at the age of 8. They
finished when they were 20 years old. The scribes wrote on clay tablets and used a triangular shaped
reed called a stylus to make marks in the clay. The marks represented the tens of thousands of words
in their language.
THE ORIGINS OF WRITING: Tokens are small geometric clay objects
(cylinders, cones, spheres, etc.) found all over the Near East from
about 8000 B.C. until the development of writing. The earliest tokens
were simple shapes and were comparatively unadorned; they stood for
basic agricultural commodities such as grain and sheep. A specific
shape of token always represented a specific quantity of a particular
item. For example, "the cone ... stood for a small measure of grain, the
sphere represented a large measure of grain, the ovoid stood for a jar
of oil." (Before Writing 161). Two jars of oil would be represented by
two ovoids, three jars by three ovoids, and so on. Thus, the tokens
presented an abstraction of the things being counted, but also a
system of great specificity and precision.
With the development of cities came a more complex
economy and more complex social structures. This
cultural evolution is reflected in the tokens, which
begin to appear in a much greater diversity of shapes
and are given more complicated designs of incisions
and holes.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
CUNEIFORM: The Sumerian
writing system during the
early periods was constantly
in flux. The original direction
of writing was from top to
bottom, but for reasons
unknown, it changed to left-toright very early on (perhaps
around 3000 BCE). This also
affected the orientation of the
signs by rotating all of them
90° counterclockwise. Another
change in this early system
involved the "style" of the
signs. The early signs were
more "linear" in that the
strokes making up the signs
were lines and curves. But
starting after 3000 BC, these
strokes started to evolve into
wedges, thus changing the
visual style of the signs from
linear to "cuneiform".
Social and political organization:
•
The King: he had military powers.
•
The Governors: they governed the territories of
•
The aristocracy: they were priests and traders.
•
The peasants: the people who work the land.
the kingdom. They were generals and judges at
the same time.
The King
The Governors
The Aristocracy
The Peasantry
The changing
role of women.
Sumer, 3200-2350 B.C.
Sargon’s Empire, 23502320 B.C.
The Amorite invasions, 2100-1900 B.C.
The Dynasty of Ur,
2100-2000 B.C.
Reign of Hammurapi of Babylon,
1792-1750 B.C.
Sumer, 3200-2350 B.C.
Kish was one of the twelve city-states of ancient Sumer
civilization. In this city lived the famous and magnificent
Akkadian King Sargon of Agade, founder of the first Empire in
history. One of the earlier kings in Kish was Etana who
"stabilized all the lands" securing the 1st dynasty of Kish and
establishing rule over ancient Sumer and some of its
neighbors. The title King of Kish became synonymous with
Kind of Sumer.
Ruins of Kish
Grand Palace of Kish
Ziggurat of Kish
For thousands of years, Nippur was the religious center of
Mesopotamia. According to Sumerian religion, it was at Nippur
where Enlil, the supreme god of the Sumerian pantheon,
created mankind. Although never a capital city, Nippur had
great political importance because royal rule over Mesopotamia
was not considered legitimate without recognition in its
temples. Thus, Nippur was the focus of pilgrimage and building
programs by dozens of kings including Hammurabi of Babylon
and Ashurbanipal of Assyria.
Map of
Nippur
Fragment from the Stele of the Vultures, erected by
Eannatum of Lagash. It depicts the battle of Umma
with Eannatum of Lagash defeating the king of
Umma, included is a professional phalanx. Circa
2525 B.C.
Upper Register of the Stele of Vultures
The Standard of Ur comes to us from a royal tombs
found in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. In the
Standard of Ur, a chariot is shown in the top register
on the left. The Standard presents, on the top 2
registers, the aftermath of another successful
victory for Sumer, with a procession of troops
presenting POWs to the victorious king at the center
of the top.
Sargon of Akkad unifies
Mesopotamia: world’s first
empire, ca. 2240 B.C.
The Dynasty of Ur,
2100-2000 B.C.
Ziggurat of Ur Nammu
Reign of Hammurapi of Babylon,
1792-1750 B.C.
The Law Code of Hammurapi
Sumer, 3200-2350 B.C.
Sargon’s Empire, 23502320 B.C.
The Amorite invasions, 2100-1900 B.C.
The Dynasty of Ur,
2100-2000 B.C.
Reign of Hammurapi of Babylon,
1792-1750 B.C.
Apsu: the fresh waters (male principle)
Tiamat: the salt waters (female principle)
Ea, the god of intelligence and
wisdom, puts Apsu in a trance
and then kills him.
The statue of the god
Marduk with his dragon,
from a Babylonian
cylinder seal. Marduk
killed Tiamat.
These carved stone figures,
their eyes wide with awe and
their hands clasped in
reverence, were placed in
Mesopotamian temples by
worshippers to stand in
perpetual prayer on their behalf
before the god or goddess to
whom the sanctuary was
dedicated.
There were many gods.
For example, Anu was the father
of the gods and the god of the
sky; Enlil was the god of the air;
Utu was the sun god and the
lord of truth and justice; Nanna
While they served and revered the
was the moon god; Inanna was
great gods, most people felt little
the goddess of love and war;
connection with these distant beings.
Ninhursag was the goddess of
Ordinary people depended on a
earth; and Enki was the god of
relationship with their own personal
fresh water as well as the lord
god - a kind of guardian angel - who
of wisdom and magic.
protected individuals and interceded
for them with the great deities.